Sermon Nuggets Mon April 9
Verses Gen 6
Noah Found Grace
Around this last
Easter time I saw there was to be a TV special for two nights entitled Noah. It
was supposed to be the presentation of the Biblical story of Noah and the Ark.
I had to turn it off during the first hour or so because it was so fictional
that any resemblance to the original story was purely coincidental. It was full
of action, intrigue, sex, sin, judgment, but missed many of the main points of
Scripture.
The story of the ark
is perhaps one of the best known stories in the Bible. There is more to it than
a children’s exciting Sunday School lesson. Controversy among scientists have
tried often to attack the validity of the Bible through theories that
contradict the story, but over again through geology and archeology more and
more evidence points to the validity of the Biblical account.
I remember John Warwick Montgomery’s exhibitions and even
photographs into the mountains of Turkey discovering under ice the original
ark. Avalanches and changes of politics and weather conditions have keep people
from exploring that area in recent years. I had read a most interesting
document describing how the ark was to have been made and how the particular
design was so crafted as to withstand not travel, but buoyancy in the most
troubled of waters, and still maintain balance as well as stability.
There has now been a tremendous undertaking by some producers of a
musical drama called Noah which was playing in Branson and in Pennsylvania to
over 100,000s of people. Sight and Sound Theatre build a huge stage with hundreds
of characters and animals depicts the outside of the ark during the first half,
and the inside of the ark that is four stories during the second half.
There are four chapters in Genesis given to the story
which for the rest of April will serve as our scriptural studies. After the
world continued in great sin the Lord was grieved that he ever made man. But
this story of Noah is also the story of the grace of God in saving the world He
created. I want to look at the lessons of love and righteousness of God that
are demonstrated in the story of Noah as we reflect on this chapter from
Genesis this week.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues April 10
Verses Gen 6: 1 When human beings began to
increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, 2 the
sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married
any of them they chose. 3 Then the LORD said, “My
Spirit will not contend with humans forever, for they are mortal; their
days will be a hundred and twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were on the earth in
those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of
humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Wrong Attractions.
God is intimately involved with his creation. Just as
disobedience and rebellion grieves the heart of a parent, so more does it
grieve the heart of God when his most favorite part of creation, willingly and
purposely turn their backs on God’s goodness.
One question that continually is raised is, “who were the Sons of
God and Daughters of Men?” (1-3)
Two
interpretations have been given: The phrase “sons of God” frequently refers to
angels in the Bible. I won’t take the time to look them up, but some
translations that use the term “angels” in literal Hebrew words are “sons of
God”. An intriguing interpretation is
that somehow angels started having marital relationships with women.
Since it resulted in horrible sin there are some who teach that
these were demons taking human form and marrying women and having offspring
that depict the most evil of humanity.
Romans mythology includes
gods marrying other humans. The gods would fight and steal and lie and use
their powers for selfish purposes. Of course, the Bible teaches there is only
one God who has no family or rivals. In fact, the Hebrew language did not even
have a female word for goddess.
Some who hold
this interpretation point to 1 Pet 3:19,20 which speaks about the spirits in
prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah
while the ark was being built.”
And objection to
this would be Luke 20:34-36 when question is raised whose wife would the widow be
in the hereafter if she had 7 husbands who died. Jesus answers “Those who are
considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the resurrection from the
dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. They can no longer die; for
they are like the angels.” Angels do not marry. Each creature was a unique
design of God and created to serve him, but apparently also had the will to
disobey and rebel.
A second
interpretation would refer to certain
kind of men are marrying certain kind of women. One objection to this interpretation is Old Testament
never uses the phrase ‘sons of God’ to refer to humans. They are called
children of the Lord. Hosea 1:10 says the people of Israel are called the sons
of the living God.” In the NT this is more common, Adam is called the son of
God in Luke 3:38 Christians are referred to as children of God And in Luke 20
after the resurrection they are Gods’ children, literally sons of God.
So if that is the case the sons of God in this passage mean, more
specifically, godly men. Since they chose to marry daughters of men rather than
the daughters of God, or godly women.
There may be more
another interpretation. Chp 4 gives us the lineage of Cain, chp 5 the lineage
of Seth. One is considered Godly the other evil. Although there are people
within Seth’s line like Enoch and Noah who are walking with God, no one in
Cain’s line is depicted as godly, only those mentioned are evil. I think this
is showing one line of Seth is marrying the ungodly line represented by Cain.
Often the Bible warns against the Israelites, God’s chosen people, from
marrying foreign women. Not because of the racial issue, but the spiritual
issue. Foreign women implied other gods and false religions.
The new Testament
also teaches against Christians marrying non Christian spouses. Marriage is the
most intimate of all human relationships and in some sense has more to do with
the spirit of man than any other relationship. I have been criticized more than
once for declining to do weddings where one is a professing believer in Jesus
and their fiancée is not. I have seen many marriages break up because of this
and other marriages have a lot of undo strife, especially after children are
born. .
I will also add a
word regarding the Nephilim. According
to Num 13, They were people of great size and strength and some called them
giants. They were heroes of old and men of renown. But the context shares they
were wicked sinners in the eyes of a holy God. The depths of evil into which
they had fallen, starkly portrayed in the next few verses of Genesis, had made
them ripe for judgment.
Who we marry has
a great effect on our spiritual lives and how we live. Scripture often warns us
to not marry pagans as they will lead us from the worship of the true God. This
is true today. How important it is to find mates that encourage faith and
devotion with one another and children to come. But according to 1 Corinthians
7 we are not to separate from spouses if one becomes a Christian unless the
unsaved spouse wishes to no longer be married because of one’s new found faith.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds April 11
Verses Gen 6: 5 The
LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth,
and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all
the time. 6 The LORD regretted that he had made
human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. 7 So
the LORD said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have
created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along
the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” 8But
Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
God’s Grief
The thing that
grieved God was the growing disregard for God and righteousness and the increasing
love for evil. Sin was pervasive and all encompassing. No one was ever free of
its influence. Man’s wickedness had become so great that every inclination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. It was not merely that he
harbored a sinful thought every so often, but all the time.
The Lord was
grieved that He had made man in the first place. Our God is a loving Father and
his heart breaks when we disobey Him. That is why Paul says to us, “Do not
grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Eph 4:30.
When God is grieved by man’s sin His heart is filled with pain because
He loves us.
The Bible says that God must judge sin, but his delight is to
respond in forgiveness to anyone who repents of their sin and desires to change
their ways. But there is a warning. God had a deadline for repentance, just as
he does for you and me.
People tend to ignore the reality of judgment. Jesus is
speaking in Matthew 24:37-39 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at
the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah
entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood
came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of
Man.” Sin is a reality both in our day and in Noah's.
The moral decay in our society is obvious. Sexual immorality has
become so common that many folks no longer think it is a big deal. Honesty,
simply telling the truth, is becoming a lost virtue. I listened to one of the
news commentators this week wondering what is the world is happening with all
the increased violence in our land. Every week there is more news about mass
shootings, rapes, child molestation, Thirty years ago a student might put a
tack on a teacher's chair, but now there are students who attack their teachers
with knives or guns. They break every one of God's commands, but do not even
consider the possibility that the Lord would punish them for their
disobedience. Even as the culmination of history approaches, when Jesus Christ
will return to earth, people will still go on living in rebellion against God,
giving no thought to the consequences of their sin.
This week as you watch television notice how many times the Ten
Commandments are scorned in a typical half-hour comedy or hour drama. Look at
the innuendo regarding illicit sexual relationship, look at the deception, the
violence and the utter disregard for human life that is brought into our homes.
Listen to the radio (talk or music, ipods) and notice the values of the people
involved. Notice that the standard for right and wrong appealed to is personal
preference, not God's eternal standards. Pay attention when people talk about
God in our world. Their description of God is nothing like the God of
scripture. Lot's of famous people talk about their belief in God. Notice what
this God they describe is like. Generally God is concerned that we feel good.
His only goal is to help us have a fulfilling life. There is no talk of holiness,
sin, or judgment. The God of the world is a caricature created in the image of
man. Watch a recent movie. Pay attention to the language, the morality, the
ethics, the behavior and also notice the way Gods people are often portrayed as
lunatics.
Chuck Swindoll wrote, “Because of sin, man has taken the deity out
of religion,
the supernatural out of Christianity, the authority from the Bible
God out of education,
morality and virtue out of literature, beauty and truth out of
art, ethics out of business,
fidelity out of marriage.”
God was grieved. But don’t think that He is not grieved
over sin today. What about in your life?
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs April 12 Grace
Verses: Gen 6: But Noah found
favor in the eyes of the LORD.
9 This is the account of Noah and his
family.
Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the
people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. 10 Noah
had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.
Gods Grace
Notice the bright spot in the line of sin, "Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord." Or as the NIV says Noah found favor in the eyes
of the Lord. Noah did not find favor because he was a righteous man, but rather
he became righteous because he found favor from the Lord. Like everyone else in
both the Old Testament and the New Testament, Noah is a righteous person
because of God's grace alone, and he experienced that righteousness through
faith alone.
When the gift of grace
is offered to mankind, some accept it and most do not. Those who accept his
grace by faith receive favor and blessing. Those who reject or ignore God’s
offer experience the consequences. Noah responded to the Grace of God and his
life was changed. He was a sinner just like us all, only he went a different
path.
None of us can
ever earn God's favor. If God were looking for men and women who on their own
live righteous lives, He would come up empty. All are sinners, no one is
righteous. Yet, in His grace, God chooses to show favor to many. He enables
people to stop trusting in themselves and put their trust in Jesus Christ. That
is how someone becomes a Christian, a child of God. We can only experience
God's salvation by turning to Jesus Christ.
Noah’s faith allowed him to respond to God’s grace. Ephesians
tells us “it is by grace that we are saved through faith. It is a gift of God
lest anyone should boast.” Noah shows that one of the marks of genuine faith is
that it leads to action. Hebrews says that because Noah had faith, he obeyed
God as Genesis 6:22 says: Noah did everything just as God commanded him. If
Noah said, "Sure, I believe You, God," but then never got around to
building the ark, he would have gotten wet, and he would have demonstrated that
his faith was not real.
One of my great fears as a pastor is that perhaps there are people
who like listening to the sermons, who think they are fine Christians, but who
have never really trusted Jesus Christ to follow Him. They know the facts that
Jesus existed. He was the son of God, He died on the cross, and even that He
rose from the dead. But have not committed ones life to Christ and relied on
him to save.
Noah was a man who did what God wanted him to do. He did what was
right (thus the term righteous). He allowed God's standards to effect and
direct his life. Noah was unafraid to live differently from the others. Hebrews
tells us that Noah, by faith, was warned of God of things not yet seen, and he
believed God, constructed an ark, thus condemned the world, and became the heir
of that righteousness which comes by faith. It is a righteousness which is not
a result of our working, not a result of our best efforts put forth to try to
please God, but a righteousness which comes by believing God. That is the kind
that Noah had.
Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Without grace Noah could
not have been saved from the destruction that came upon the world. There was no
inherent merit in Noah greater than in other men of his time. The only
difference was that Noah believed and obeyed God. Likewise grace has come unto us through
Christ
Many of us who were baseball fans in the 50s and 60s were
impressed with the New York Yankees of old. Roger Marris, Yoga Berra, Mickey
Mantle, were boyhood heroes. I watched a couple of stories on Mickey Mantle
when he died and talked about his life
and party days. He revealed how he and Billy Martin drove the head coach nuts
with their practical jokes and breaking curfew.
Bobby Richardson another teammate and outspoken Christian reported
in the Los Angeles Times that just a few days before his death, Mantle told him
that he had accepted Christ as his personal savior. Richardson commend that he had received more
than 300 letters form Christians who had been praying for Mickey in the last
months of his life.
This hard drinking, fast living, millionaire was not living for
God, but self and the pleasures of this world. But faced the effects of his sin
in destroying his liver, he needed the gift from God. He realized he had no
place else to turn. God was good to him. He didn’t have to give him another
chance. Some don’t have another chance. He didn’t have to bring Bobby
Richardson into his life, but he did. He didn’t have to lay it upon the hearts
of 300 people to pray for his salvation, but he did. Think of the fact that
God, who had been ignored and offended for a lifetime stood without rage at the
edge of eternity offering mercy and grace to Mantle’s repentant heart.
Bobby Richardson’s wife knelt by Mickey chair a few days before he
went home to be with the Lord asking him how he knew for sure that he had been
born again. Mantle recited, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting
life.”
Grace was also revealed in the fact that revealed his
intentions to Noah. He gave him commands to follow and obey to save himself and
his family. None of those things did God have to do. He did it out of his grace
and love. He gave him careful direction how to save the whole world through a
different way- the ark, but it took trust and obedience by faith.
God gave the people of Noah’s day 120 years to repent and hear the
warning of judgment. The Bible says God was longsuffering. He is patient, but there
was a time when grace was no longer extended. A warning now for this is the day
of salvation and the time to respond to the grace of God. Tomorrow may be too
late.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri April 13
Verses- Gen 6: 11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was
full of violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the
people on earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, “I am going
to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of
them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself
an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.
15 This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long,
fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. 16 Make a roof for it, leaving below
the roof an opening one cubithigh all around. Put a door in the side of the ark
and make lower, middle and upper decks. 17 I am going to bring floodwaters on
the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the
breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. 18 But I will establish
my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your
wife and your sons’ wives with you. 19 You are to bring into the ark two of all
living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.20 Two of every
kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves
along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. 21 You are to take every
kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for
them.”
22 Noah did everything just
as God commanded him.
God’s Guidance
God comes up with a plan to start over. God is going to bring a
worldwide flood that will destroy every living thing. His plan is to preserve
humanity through Noah and his family.
The enormous ship was the vehicle that God chose to use to save
the righteous few. It had 3 decks which
in turn were divided into rooms. The
ark’s dimension was truly remarkable for its time and even today. It was 450
feet long-that is 1 ½ football field lengths. It was 75 feet wide and 45 feet
high, that is 4 ½ stories. Modern ocean liners rarely exceed twice the length
of Noah’s ark. Someone has done the math and figured that the ark had a
carrying capacity of 522 standard railroad stock cars. Or the equivalent of
eight freight trains of 65 cars each! This was no little ship.
To make matters worse, Noah and his family lived 500 miles or more
away from the closest body of water! And there is no record that it had ever
rained before! Can you imagine explaining a need for a boat and the concept of
a flood under these conditions? So, not only did God ask Noah to build this
great vessel for which there was no precedent, he had to do so in the midst of
public ridicule. Certainly he was known by others as "crazy Noah". I
wouldn't be surprised if families traveling on vacation would make it a point
to drive by and see the man who was building something "God told him to
build". He was a freak.
Whatever the shape of the ark, its declared purpose was to provide
sanctuary for 8 people and all the main species of animals through the flood.
The devastating power of the floodwaters would totally destroy all other life
under the heavens and every creatures that had the breath of life in it would
die. But the Lord would keep alive Noah his 3 sons and wives.
The story of salvation from the Flood used in the Bible typifies
Gods deliverance of all who trust Him. Some say this provides a symbol of
baptism as well.
God announced in advance that He would establish his
covenant with Noah, a covenant that Noah would fully understand only after the
Flood was over. God's people will be protected, even when the Lord is executing
judgment on the ungodly. Nowhere in the Bible does God promise His people
freedom from adversity. Whether we like it or not, Christians sometimes have
trouble paying their bills, Christians some-times get fired from jobs,
Christians sometimes get F's on their report cards, Christians sometimes play
for teams that don't win a game all season, Christians sometimes have terrible
conflicts in their marriage, Christians sometimes get sick, Christians
sometimes die. But, like Noah, our afflictions, our troubles, are all temporary.
God will be with us and will protect us in the midst of our trials. That is a
testimony I have heard over and over again from those Christians in other
countries who have suffered persecution for their faith in Jesus.
Friends, if you are a genuine Christian, the good news is that no
matter what you are going through, no matter how hard it is, God is with
you. It was not fun in the ark, but it
was a lot better inside the ark than outside. It is much better to be going through
a tough time with God beside you, than to be going through an easy time without
the Lord.
And all this time Noah is preaching to the people!
How frustrating it would
have been to have such an urgent message and get nothing but scorn and ridicule
in response. He preached but no one responded. But Noah continued doing what
God called him to do. He trusted God's Word and God's promise. And that's what
made him a man of faith and saw the salvation of the Lord.
Where in your
life is faith tested? When is it you have the hardest time trusting God?
Remember Noah.
Pastor Dale
